British Nuclear Policymaking

This study analyzes the domestic political, economic, and bureaucratic factors that affect the nuclear policymaking process in Great Britain. Its major conclusion is that, although there have been changes in that process in recent years (notably the current involvement of a segment of the British public in the debate about the deployment of intermediate-range nuclear forces), future British nuclear policymaking will remain much what it has been in the past. Three ideas are central to understanding British thinking on the subject: (1) Britain's long-standing resolve to have her own national nuclear force is largely traceable to her desire to maintain first-rank standing among the nations of the world in spite of loss of empire. (2) Financial considerations have always been important--so much so that they have usually dominated issues of nuclear policy. (3) The executive branch of government dominates the nuclear policymaking process but does not always present a united front. The United States heavily influences British nuclear policy through having supplied Britain since the late 1950s with nuclear data and components of nuclear weapon systems such as Polaris and Trident. The relationship works both ways since the U.S. depends on Britain as a base for deployment of both conventional and nuclear systems.